{ Islam from inside }

(Sura 10: verse 105) - On being hanif

Added Aug 29, 2005

Sura 10, verse 105 reads as follows:

"And that you should keep your course
towards the
religion uprightly (as a hanif); and you should not be of the
mushriks."
(Qur'an
10:104)

This verse is addressed directly to the Prophet
(s.a) and
indirectly to us. On the surface it is asking the Prophet to be upright
in his
religion, and to not be one of the mushriks - one of those who
associate
gods with God. But, in verse
104, the Prophet's worship was
distinguished and raised in purity above the worship of all mankind -
so it
is likely that this verse refers to something more than simply not
being a
polytheist?

The Arabic for the word that is generally
translated as
"upright" is "hanif". Hanif in general usage refers to
those people
who,
in pre-Islamic times, maintained monotheistic beliefs when the society
around
them had slipped into polytheism. They followed the true nature and
disposition
given to mankind, which points to a belief in One God. Sura 30:29 says:
"So
direct your countenance to religion as a hanif, in accordance with the
predisposition God has given man. Allah's creation can not be altered.
This is
the true religion."

Throughout the Qur'an, mention of Ibrahim(a.s.) is
connected
with the term hanif. Sura 3:67 says: "Ibrahim
was neither a Jew nor a
Christian, but a 'Hanif', a Muslim, one who is not among the
idol-worshippers."

And here in verse 10:105 our
Prophet is referred to as hanif in
the context of a verse that
immediately follows a
declaration of the extraordinary purity of the Prophet's worship of
Allah. It
has already (in verse
104) been made clear that the Prophet is free of the various types
of
shirk that
the rest of us fall into - whether that shirk is a major or minor
shirk. There are
many levels and forms of shirk and most of us are not free from some
form of it, however mild that form may be. But here, the one who is the
seal of
the prophets, the bearer of the final revelation, the declarer of the
absolute,
unbreachable unity of God - this man is told by God to be hanif.

So what is it that may distinguish a hanif
from other believers in God?

Hanif is
a term that the qur'an uses as an
elevating,
distinguishing term for Prophet Ibrahim. In the instances that Ibrahim
is
called hanif, the surrounding
verses provide clues to the uniqueness of
one who is hanif. For example
in sura 6:74-79, the qur'an says:

"....We
showed Ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he
might be of those who are sure.

So when the night over-shadowed him,
he saw a
star; said he: Is
this my Lord? So when it set, he said: I do not love the setting ones.
Then
when he saw the moon rising, he said: Is this my Lord?

So when it set, he said: If my Lord
had not guided
me I should
certainly be of the erring people.Then when he saw the sun rising, he
said: Is
this my Lord? Is this the greatest?

So when it set,
he said: O my people! surely I am
clear of what
you set up (with Allah). Surely I have turned myself, being hanif,
wholly to
Him Who originated the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the
polytheists." (see "On
seeing beyond forms")

These verses describe the spiritual vision and
state of certainty
granted to Ibrahim as a gift from Allah in which a series of
perceptions occur that take Ibrahim beyond all the forms of this world
to an encounter with the Divine Light.

Only after Prophet Ibrahim has been granted this
revelatory
experience does the verse go on to say: "Surely I am hanif, and have
turned myself wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth,
and I am
not one of those who commit shirk (polytheism)."

He has not turned away completely from shirk until
he has
journeyed through all the illusory veils and reached a vision of the
Source. He
is hanif when he has
done this because his own true inner nature has awoken and he is able
to
perceive things as they truly are (their inner reality). "He has
visited his own inner
planets" (his own inner moon, stars, and sun) "...ascending in this
way from heaven to heaven towards the summit..." of his own true nature
and disposition...his hanif nature "...until the infinity of God is
revealed to
him." (Henry Corbin).

Elsewhere in the qur'an, the title of hanif is accorded to
Prophet Ibrahim and immediately following this the qur'an has him make
the declaration of absolute
surrender and tauhid: "My prayer and
my sacrifice, my life and death are only for
Allah, the Lord of all the worlds...." (6:162)

A hanif is
the one who through personal
realization, through an inner
awakening, places aside all forms of association (of shirk) and arrives
at a
pure tauhid and a total
and absolute surrender - one based on experience and true knowledge,
not on
imitation and blind following.

Many follow religion as a formula, a series of
ceremonies that
have been handed down to them and which are followed without full depth
of
understanding. There is a comfort (and a benefit) in performing rituals
but the goal of
a
ritual is not the ritual itself.

The ceremonies and rituals are
symbols, they
are indicators, or shadows of greater realities, they are an invitation
to
embark on the road to discovery of these greater realities - to
experience of
and verification of these realities - to actual personal knowledge of
them.
This is why the verse says that the way, the direction, the correct
course to
the religion (to the din) is through the disposition God has given us -
to
approach it as a hanif. And
it is this approach that will keep us safe
from shirk - that
will elevate us above all forms of shirk - both apparent and concealed
- as it
did for Prophet Ibrahim and for others who followed the way of tauhid
before the
time of our Prophet.

A hanif is
one who verifies - so no
matter what society or
time he lives in, he arrives at the truth through awakening and
cultivating the
nature that God has placed within him - so the hanif does not
deviate when society deviates - he does not follow where society leads
- he is
not drawn this way and that by the trends and fashions in thought and
religion,
nor does he bend to the inclination of the times in which he lives, but
cleaves to the
truth
that he knows with certainty (through verification, not guesswork) -
the truths learned
by
means of the internal journey upon which he has embarked.

If you are hungry, you won't be satisfied with a
photograph or someone else's description of food -
your internal nature and need will drive you to seek out real food, to
taste it, experience it, and gain satisfaction and nourishment from it.
A hanif is one who is not
satisfied with the shadow of
religion, the
exterior of it, the mere description of it - he is hungry for true
religion, and so seeks out the
reality
which casts the shadow, and beyond that, the Light before which all
things are insubstantial shadows.

Physical and Metaphysical

"Islam’s outlook on the world is religious, and in a religious
outlook the physical world is but a part of reality – the other part
being beyond the physical realm and in the metaphysical realm. The
physical and metaphysical domains are variously referred to in
religious terminology as “earth” (the present world) and “heaven” (the
hereafter); “visible” (shahādah) and “unseen” (ghayb); mulk (the
corporeal world or “kingdom”) and malakūt (the spiritual world or
“dominion”).

In the ontology of religion, the physical is not disconnected and
divorced from the metaphysical; nor are the two situated on one level –
in a “horizontal” relation, so to speak. They are rather, part of a
single hierarchy, which integrally connects them in a “vertical”
manner; such that the physical world falls under the dominion of the
metaphysical, and the spiritual (malakūt) dominates the corporeal
(mulk). Hence, the relationship between the physical and the
metaphysical is essentially of a different order than the relationship
between physical objects themselves.
The metaphysical comprehends the physical in such a way that the latter
comes to be known as lower and outward, or manifest, while the former
is higher and inward, or immanifest.

The relation between the manifest and the immanifest is not of the
order of two things on the horizontal plane. It is, rather, a
transcendental relation, which when compared to normal worldly
relationships, appears mysterious and quite incredible.

The metaphysical realm is the inward, unseen and higher level of the
physical realm itself, and due to the type of relationship that it has
with physical objects, it “colours” them, giving them the appropriate
quality. It is for this very same reason that the religious perspective
does not see the natural physical world as a homogenous and uniform
multiplicity. Rather, each and every part of the physical world –
in line with the type of relation it has with the metaphysical and
unseen realm – assumes a metaphysical aspect.

The relation between the physical and meta-physical is similar to the
one between the words of a script and their meanings. From the
physical point of view, words are nothing but sounds and things that
are interrelated only horizontally. But every word that is uttered or
written conveys a particular message due to the relation and connection
that it has with its meaning. In this way, every word – with a view to
its meaning – acquires particularities that it would not otherwise have
had without its semantic (ma’nawī) relation. Needless to say, the
relation between words and meanings is an arbitrary one, in that it is
established by cultural context and the exercise of human freewill.

The connection between the physical and metaphysical worlds on the
other hand, is real, pertaining to the order of existence.
Words and expressions, set in various cultures, are accompanied by
differing meanings and messages. These meanings, in those very same
settings, have real and tangible effects – both individual and social.
Some words cause pleasure and elation, while others, result in anger
and distemper. From the religious perspective, every part of the
natural world,
depending on the type of relation and connection it has with the
metaphysical – and hence its own inner or unseen aspect – is subject to
particularities and categorizations of its own and peculiar to itself."

(quoted from Shuja Mirza's translation of "Existence
and
the Fall" by Hamid
Parsania)

About this article

Anyone who reads the Qur'an is likely to be struck by the unique
nature of its construction, its unusual and constantly shifting rhythms
and the sudden transmutations and displacements in its subject matter.
At first this ever changing literary terrain seems an obstacle to
understanding, but the more time one spends with this book, the more
organic, the more natural the flow of its words feel. It is almost
like flying over an ever-changing landscape - rolling valleys
punctuated by jagged rocks, forests and plains giving way to upthrust
mountains, high plateaus broken by deep lakes, deserts sprinkled
with oasis' and cleft by canyons. Despite the variety of the forms,
despite the startling contrast of adjacent features, a complex organic
beauty underlies and unites all the various elements. These "tafsirs"
emerged from numerous brief scattered notes made while reading the
qur'an (along with numerous commentaries and the works of various
scholars whose profound analyses strongly effected my views) and
reflecting on its content. As well, for a number of years
I have participated in a hallakha, a qur'anic study circle, and many of
the
tafsirs presented here were originally researched for presentation at
that forum.